Warmth
by Dawnstorm101
Summary: THOR RAGNAROK SPOILERS WITHIN. Loki has been living the dream for years now - but is it really his dream? Or is something missing? The answer is yes, and he has a choice - he could throw away his last chance at that missing something... or he could risk his life to get it back.


A/N: Just in case: **_THOR RAGNAROK SPOILERS BELOW_**.

Don't say I didn't warn ya.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY LOKI'S GOOD AGAIN. I'm going to be dying over that "I'm here" line for all eternity. All. Eternity. But then they didn't show the hug?! Come on, Marvel. Well, that's why fanfic exists, I suppose.

* * *

Loki settled into the ship's captain's chair with a contented sigh. He drummed his fingers against the arms, giving it a little spin. He grinned to himself for a moment. _It's not quite Asgard, but it'll do. For now._

"Where to, sir?" Korg asked cheerfully from behind him.

Loki waved a dismissive hand. "Anywhere but here."

 _Sir. I like the sound of that. Not quite "Your Majesty," but it'll do._

"Yes, sir," Korg agreed. Loki shot a glance at him through narrowed eyes – that cheerfulness was going to get very annoying very quickly. But for now, Korg would do.

 _He'll do,_ Loki repeated as the ship lurched into the sky. _I've concluded that three times since sitting in this chair._

If he was being honest with himself, he had concluded that many, many times over the last four years. Nothing had ever been good enough. Not the throne, not the women, not the constant adoration – nothing. He had had full, uncontested power over the Nine Realms, and still he had been dissatisfied. He had tried to fill the void with more adoring subjects, but nothing worked.

If he was being _really_ honest with himself, he knew why.

"Loki, I thought the world of you," Thor had said in that elevator. "I thought we were gonna fight side-by-side forever."

Beneath the surprise he'd felt at those words, Loki had felt… warmth. A warmth he hadn't felt since Odin's lies and betrayals, since his mother's death, since taking over Asgard's throne. Well, no, that wasn't quite true – he had felt it. He had felt it when Thor tried to keep him from falling; when Thor begged him to come home; when Mother visited him in the dungeons; when Thor held him as he pretended die; and again when Odin kept calling Loki his son.

It was the warmth of love, of family… of home.

Loki tried to ignore it. He tried to turn his brother in for a generous sum of money. But now that the sting of electricity was gone, he was free to feel another sting – guilt.

He had told Kurse how to get to Mother. He had cast Odin out to die on Midgard.

Could he leave Thor to die by Hela's hand? Could he abandon that warmth forever?

 _"Maybe there's still good in you."_

"Korg!"

The rock creature paused in the doorway. "Yes, sir?"

Loki took a deep breath. "Take us to Asgard."

-MCU-

After the battle, Loki found himself nervous about talking to his brother. He had seemed happy enough to see him, but without the gratefulness for any ally mid-battle… Would Thor just feel resentment and hatred?

He took a breath and stepped inside.

Thor slouched on a chair, an eyepatch affixed over his missing eye. His new similarity to Odin hit Loki like a rock, but he was surprised to find it didn't make him flinch. It didn't even light a spark of hatred for their father – maybe Odin's lies had been born of love after all.

He wasn't surprised when Thor reached for something to throw. "If you were really here, I might even hug you."

 _He wants me here. After all I've done, he really does still love me._

Loki smiled in relief as he caught the object. "I'm here," he promised.

Thor's eye widened, and he was on his feet in a heartbeat. Gingerly, he rested a hand on Loki's shoulder, expecting him to be swallowed up by emerald light. Loki hesitantly reached up to cover Thor's hand with his own. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, and for once, he didn't try to stop them. A tear slipping from his own eye, Thor cupped the back of Loki's head. He patted a couple times, maybe harder than was necessary, but Loki let him. He just stood there, letting Thor realize that he was real and solid.

"I'm here, brother," he promised again, quiet but sincere. "I'm here."

Thor huffed a laugh that was more of a sob and swept Loki into his arms. "Gods, I missed you."

Slowly, Loki hugged back. He closed his eyes and leaned into his brother, a massive weight lifting from him as that longed-for warmth embraced him. "I missed you too, brother."

-MCU-

A little later, as he took his place alongside his brother's makeshift throne, he still wasn't entirely certain no one there wouldn't try to punch him, but he did know that he was home. He was with his brother, and that was where he had always belonged, and where he would always stay.


End file.
